1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a fluid heating apparatus, and more particularly relates to a high efficiency low pollutant fluid heating apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Boilers or water heaters have been known for many years in the prior art. Many of these water heaters are equipped with a burner that include a housing surrounding a boiler compartment, a cylindrical heat exchanger, which divides the boiler compartment into a combustion chamber and an exhaust chamber, whereby the heat exchanger comprises passages distributed across its surface for the hot exhaust gas and a burner head positioned in the combustion chamber.
Many of these prior art heaters have been constructed using burners and heat exchanger water flow tubing. These prior art water heaters must be capable of producing and heating water with tens of thousands and millions of BTU's. Further, in modern commercial applications, the emissions standards for water heaters are becoming much more strict. Complete burning of fuel is controlled so that hydrocarbon emissions are very low and in many existing prior art water heaters natural gas is burned in an environment of forced air. Furthermore, the quest for conserving energy and resolving environmental issues, which many encounter in the art today, have created a demand for more efficient and cleaner heating systems. Prior art fluid heating systems, such as water heaters, boilers, cooking appliances, etc., tremendously contribute to the demand on our energy resources. Therefore, the design of an efficient heat exchanger and a supporting combustion system becomes extremely critical in the design of clean and efficient heating systems commonly called “green fluid heating systems”.
Many of the prior art systems are not efficient and produce too much pollution and/or are extremely complicated and expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, many of these prior art heating systems require a high level of automation and capital cost to produce one unit. These restrictions on the prior art apparatuses do not allow a practical means for manufacturing and impedes the wide spread use of these more efficient designs. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an overall change of direction in these systems specifically, in conserving energy such that the environmental impact is minimal from the heating units.
Many present high efficiency heat exchangers utilize a single continuous tube (circular or oblong) in a coil or serpentine shape for every pass to achieve high efficiency in transferring heat by increasing the contact surface area. As a result, fluid flow becomes restricted due to a smaller cross sectional area and it also creates a substantial pressure drop across the heat exchanger. In some cases this causes a need for an external pump to provide the needed flow volume.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a high efficiency low pollutant fluid heating apparatus. Furthermore, there is a need in the art for a fluid heating apparatus that uses a high efficiency gas burner and blower combination, which will allow for the burner to emit radiant energy to hollow plates carrying a fluid. There also is a need in the art for an easy and inexpensive way to manufacture via simple stamping or other processes, the interior plates for a heating apparatus. There also is a need in the art for a heating apparatus that uses a burner flame that consists of a plurality of smaller flames over a larger area rather than one single large flame which will allow for reduction of adiabatic flame temperature which results in reducing oxides of nitrogen which are generally classified as pollutants. There also is a need in the art for a better radiation heat transfer from the burner to the plates, which occurs via the use of many smaller flames over a large area. Furthermore, there is a need in the art for a high efficiency heating apparatus with minimal pressure drop.